Coming Into the Light: An Examination of Restraint and Isolation Practices in Washington Schools
In 2018 DRW began monitoring the use of isolation and restraint in schools across Washington state. Seeing disparity and overuse, in 2019, DRW and the ACLU-WA began collaborating on this report. DRW conducted over 140 interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents and other school personnel, reviewed school documents, research, state laws, and did an extensive data analysis of Washington data. Report findings show that restraint and isolation have no educational or therapeutic benefits but have profound disabling effects and result in lifelong harm, especially for students with disabilities who are low-income, live in foster care or are homeless, are Black or multiracial, and are in Kindergarten or elementary school. Read more here.